Next to the Jamaica road which is part of the London Marathon route, near the Rotherhithe tunnel, tucked away is Southwark Park, home to the first destination of the Southwark Slam.
This 63-acre park was designed by Alexander Kenzie and opened in 1869. Through a Deed of Dedication of the Fields of Trust the park is safeguarded as a public recreation land for future generations to enjoy and that’s exactly what the 525 participants and 30 volunteers were doing this morning at Southwark parkrun.
The Southwark Slam is running all the parkruns in the London Borough of Southwark, in the month of September. We started doing it in 2015 and it always starts at Southwark parkrun to coincide with their annual birthday celebrations 😀
This was my 15th attendance at Southwark parkrun and it was a warm welcome as always with a field packed with familiar faces, and parkrun royalty Jon and Sue Round, both members of the parkrun 500 Club in attendance.
Southwark Slam regulars Andrew, Aislin, (and Ciaran) and Michael were in attendance along with some new recruits including Charles, a member of the core team at Kennington Junior parkrun.
The Run Director, Anmol, gave a friendly and thorough introduction, calling out milestones and a shout-out to all the Southwark Slamers. The clock struck 0900 and we were off.
The course starts in a field in front of the 8 lane running track of the newly built Athletics Centre. Participants arrow towards the path for the three-lap course. The course offers opportunities to high-five other runners and with lots of enthusiastic high viz heroes cheering, Southwark parkrun always has an uplifted and celebratory feel.
The Southwark Park Pavillion Cafe, with a good menu and outside seating looking over the boating lake, is a great destination for post-parkrun brunch and parkrun faff. The park has an abundance of facilities and is home to the Southwark Park Galleries. A park with a parkrun and lots more to do.
With enthusiasm fully topped up, next week we head to Peckham Rye, the course with a hill, bridges and streams, for the second instalment to the 2024 Southwark Slam.
Happy running
Another wonderful description of a park I have never visited. The cafe looks fab so a bit of exploring needed!
This was a fun read! Thank you for continuing to share great inspiring for Parkrun visits. The pavilion looks gorgeous, defo even more tempting now